


a murder all along

by Pandacakescowgirl242



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:18:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9123316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandacakescowgirl242/pseuds/Pandacakescowgirl242
Summary: when a girl suddenly dies in her hospital bed, the hospital staff rule it off as a natural death due to her illnesses, something the NYPD homicide department don't get involved with however, what turned out to be a supposed natural cause turns Into a murder. when Kate and the rest of her crew start to dig much deeper into the case, things start to not make sense, bringing up appearances of an extremely dangerous group. when Ryan is pushed down the stairs by force late one night in the precinct and is badly injured, Kate, castle and Espo realise they are dealing with a much bigger problem then they thought.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first castle fanfiction. I have written one other fanfiction on here but that's of another TV show. I'm hoping to do about 10 chapters but if I decide to do more then I will. these characters all belong to the show ( except for my own creations) i own nothing.  
> enjoy!

"I`m sorry. she`s gone. we`ve tried everything" 

two weeping parents stood in the hallway of the children`s hospital, holding each other for comfort. the doctor looked on with heartbreak- the only part of his job he hated was losing a child and having to tell the parents that their little boy or girl was dead- it broke him every time. "I`m sorry" 

The mother slid to the floor, the tears falling down her cheeks like a waterfall. The doctors white coat swiftly billowed around him as he moved swiftly to kneel beside the stricken mother. "Lennox. I'm so sorry. her illnesses - they got the better of her. don`t let go off the memories Lennox, remember your little girl Caitlyn, how she was. her illnesses never got her down. she was always smiling. she melted most of the nurses hearts here." 

The father wrapped his arms round his wife. "how do we tell our other children that their sister is gone forever?" 

"they knew what was a possibility. just tell them the truth. they deserve that" The doctor replied firmly. 

"it ..it happened so fast! she was fine yesterday!" Lennox cried out, her heart breaking in two. The doctor had to swallow back a lump that had started to form in his throat. I don't know" he admitted. "but I do know this- she`s in a better place now, looking down on you both, with that smile on her face" 

swiftly Lennox stood up from the floor, wiping the tears from her cheeks. " I want to see her" 

The doctor started to shake her head when Lennox interrupted what he was about to say angrily. "that's my daughter in there David. I deserve to see my daughter just one more time" her voice cracked at the end and David felt his own eyes start to burn with tears. after being Caitlyn`s doctor for almost three years he had grown fond of them all. he nodded and pushed the door open softly, allowing them through.

the once noisy room that was often filled with beeping machines and laughter was now replaced with a deadly silence that hit Lennox and her husband hard. The tears returning to both of their eyes as they approached the bed in the middle. their daughter was laying on the bed, eyes shut and her soft brown hair sprawled all over the pillow. her right arm was draped across her abdomen. Lennox reached out for her daughters still warm hand and held it to her cheek, the tears pooling from her eyes. I love you Caitlyn." using her other hand Lennox brushed hair from Caitlyn`s face. "open those baby green eyes of yours darling. for mummy." she begged, the sobs taking over. she bent her head down so it was resting against her daughters chest. I love you"


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry! I apologize if this chapter is a bit crap and short. I'm still trying to set the scene etc. the next one will be better and longer! I promise!

things were quiet in the precinct, more quieter then usual. All that really needed to be done was paperwork- and there was quite a lot of it. there was only Kate and Esposito which made the working through the paperwork slower then usual. Ryan was off sick recovering from the seasons flu bug that was going round, and Castle was at home, looking after Aexis who had also caught the seaons flu bug - not that Castle helped with any of the paperwork though. 

"you heard from Castle today?" Esposito asked, attempting to make conversation to lighten up the mood. 

Kate shook her head. "No. but i didn't expect him to call in with looking after Alexis and all" more words were added to what she was writing. "have you heard from Ryan?" this time it was Esposito`s turn to shake his head. "not since he called in sick"

silence resumed its self around them. Kate realised then that it was quieter without Castle`s constant chattering and his wild theories he creates, Ryan joining in with them. Kate shook her head as she refocused her attention to the paperwork she was doing. it was paperwork for the most recent case they had solved. A woman had been murdered in her bedroom by blunt force trauma to the head and suffocation. It seemed simple at first- that was until CSU confirmed that the windows and doors had been locked from the inside. they had spent every hour reviewing details, working late hours to try and solve the case and bring the murderer to justice. it wasn't until, with the help from Ryan as an example, Castle spinning his theories and using his mystery novalist skills that they realised the murderer had been in the room all the time, stayed into the shadows until the victim had returned home. It turned out that it was the brother of the victim that had killed her. they had argued the previous day about the shares their father was going to give them before he died, which the brother had admitted too. What he didn't tell them was he returned during the night, waited for his sister to come back and enter the bedroom before sneaking up behind her and whacking her hard with an umbrella, before suffocating her with a pillow. He had wanted to shares all to himself, that their father favoured her more then him and was giving her more then him even though he was the eldest. he had had enough of the favouritism and decided to do something about it. The sharp shrill of her phone brought her attention back to her surroundings as she peered at the caller ID. It was Castle. she picked it up and answered it. she was greeted with "any new murders come your way?" 

"Not since you called yesterday asking the exact same question" Kate forced back a smile, knowing how her partner got bored easily sitting around the house without a difficult case to crack. "its just me and Espo finishing up some paperwork" with his name mentioned, Esposito looked up at the mention of him name and Kate mouthed Castle. who else would call her? 

"what about Ryan?" Castle asked on the other end, then he seemed to get himself a little to excited. "there is a case ..... you just don't want to tell me. awesome! what is it? and why send Ryan alone?" 

"before you start jumping to your usual crazy ideas- there is no case" Kate replied quickly. "Ryan`s off with the flu." 

"ah! the same as Alexis" Castle sighed, disappointment at their being no new case. 

"speaking of Alexis - how is she?" Kate asked, attempting to hide a smile at his obvious boredom. 

"getting better." Castle admitted. "listen I have to go. enjoy work. I`ll see you later. I love you" "I love you too" Kate replied, smiling before hanging up .she put her phone down and put her full concentration on the paperwork. it needed to be done soon enough, no matter how time consuming it was. she smiled to herself again as she thought about being at home with Castle, all cuddled up. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A knock sounded at his door, something that he had hoped against as that would mean he would have to move. he had persuaded Jenny to go to work- he didn't need babysitting- he was an adult after all. Although now, wondering whether or not he should get up to answer the door, he wondered if having Jenny mother cuddle him wasn't such a bad idea. He heaved him off the sofa as the knocking started again and opened the door, leaning slightly. 

"you look like hell bro" was Ryan`s greeting. He laughed softly, before brushing his hand through his non- gelled hair which fell back against his forehead. he stepped back slightly , allowing his partner into his apartment. "what exactly do you want javi. you know I'm off sick" 

"nothing to do with work" Esposito assured him. "me and Beckett hadn't heard from you in a while so I`d thought I drop by" 

Ryan headed back to the sofa, gratefully sinking into it. he watched as his partner made himself at home and sat down on the opposite side of the sofa. "where`s honeymilk?" 

"made her go to work" Ryan groaned as he moved. Having the flu was a pain sometimes. "didn't want to make her ill too" 

"should I be worried about getting infected with your disease?" Esposito teased. 

Ryan threw at pillow at him which he expertly caught before throwing it back, laughing. "just kidding" 

"ha-ha" 

Esposito observed his friend from where he was sitting, coming immediately to the conclusion that the younger detective had caught quite a serious case of the flu. 

"anything been happening down at the precinct?" Ryan asked, bringing Esposito back to the present. 

"nope. just paperwork. been quiet though- Castle ain`t there" Esposito replied. 

Ryan frowned, his throat hurting from all the talking he was doing. as if knowing what Ryan was going to ask Esposito went on to explain. "Alexis has what you have. Castle`s been looking after her" 

Ryan nodded in understanding, before coughing. 

"sounds nasty" Esposito reflected. 

ryan shook his head."it isn`t half as bad as it was a couple of days ago" he shifted and attempted to get up but Esposito pushed him down. "you should be resting. not moving. what do you need?" He patted Ryan on the shoulder before standing up. 

"i was managing perfectly on my own before you showed up"Ryan protested but settled back into the arm of the sofa, pulling the blanket he had wrapped round his shoulders tighter against the shivers that had invaded his body again. "the medicine on the counter" 

Esposito picked it up and handed it to his friend who took it, nodding his thanks. "is there anything else you need?" Ryan could hear the slight concern in his partners voice. 

Ryan shook his head. "I`m tired anyways so should fall asleep pretty soon. you might as well go - Jenny be back soon anyways." 

"you sure?" 

Ryan nodded, his eyes sleepily flickering. "I`m fine. its just the flu. I don't want to give it to you" 

"i knew I should have been worried about catching your disease" he teased again. Ryan threw another pillow in his direction which he expertly caught again. "you`ll be okay?" 

Ryan nodded. "ill see you at the precinct in a couple of days" 

Esposito nodded before letting himself out of Ryan`s apartment. just as he came out of the building Jenny was heading in. "oh! hello javi!" 

"hey Jenny" he smiled. 

"you been to see kevin?" she asked. 

he nodded. "i think he fell asleep as I left" 

she nodded. "well I let you go..." she allowed him to walk to his car as she continued up to her and Ryan`s apartment. she opened the door and spotted her husband immediately, fast asleep on the sofa. she closed the door softly so she didn't disturb him and set her bag down before walking softly towards him and leaned down to give him a kiss before smoothing his hair down and pulling the blanket closer round him.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
"so what do we have lanie?" Detective beckett asked, as she approached where Lanie was bent over, examining a small girl who was in the morgue at the local hospital. "She was killed in here?" 

"Nope" Lanie replied standing up. "She was down here because doctor Wilson - who was working with her - died a couple of days ago" 

"Considering it's a children`s hospital- doesn't that mean she had illnesses that she could die from?" Castle asked. 

"Yes- that's what they all thought - but..." she turned round as they walked towards the body. "The hospital staff then noticed these - had a test ran and she's got enough poison in her blood to have killed a few people" 

"How old is she?" Beckett asked. 

"10" Lanie pointed to the doorway where Ryan was talking to two stricken adults. "Those are her parents. They thought she had died of her illnesses- they had just been getting used to the fact when the hospital staff here told them she was murdered. They're in a terrible state" 

"Who wouldn't" castle added solemnly. "Their little girl was murdered while still in hospital" 

Just then Ryan headed over to them- sneezing as he reached them. 

"you better not contaminate my crime scene" Lanie scolded. "Should you even be back?" 

"I'm fine" Ryan replied. He sneezed again. "It's just the sneezes are I can't get rid off" 

Lanie didn't seem satisfied. "Hmm-hmm." 

Ryan turned his attention back to his boss. "So apparently - the girl had multiple illnesses. Heart conditions, brain condition a few others things." Ryan explained. "The parents had been told the day before she died that she didn't have long to live before - gave her about a month and then the next she died. The doctor who was working with them told them she had died from the illnesses she had and left it at that. It wasn't until the girl was brought down here that questions were raised" 

Beckett nodded, taking this in. "And is that doctor around today?" 

Ryan shook his head. "Apparently the day the girl died he hasn't been in since." 

"Does anyone know where he is?" 

Ryan shook his head again. "He hasn't called in" 

Castle and Beckett shared a look. "Suspicious right?" Castle said. 

Beckett nodded before turning to the younger detective. "Find out where this doctor lives" 

Ryan nodded and walked off, sneezing again. 

"I swear if that boy contaminates anything - I'm sending him back home" 

"He's fine Lanie" Beckett assured her before moving off. Castle follows half a step behind her as they head out of the door. She sighed. "Something's bothering you - what is it?" 

"Well - how does a girl - a sick girl - get murdered in a hospital where there are what.. like 100 staff? And no one notice anything suspicious" 

"It's an inside job castle ..." Beckett replied. "This doctor - whoever he was with them - had access to the daughter. He could have easily slipped her something when the parents weren't around. Espo`s gone to have a look at her ward she had" 

"Still ... don't it seem obvious to you...?" 

"What? That the killer was in fact a person working in this hospital?" She stopped turning round to face her boyfriend, smirking. "Come on castle - not all murders are complex" 

"Still..." castle grumbled as he followed her out towards the car. "It just seems the obvious choice..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers! Here's another chapter - im off ill so managed to write another chapter tonight.  
> Enjoy!

"have you found anything?" Beckett asked her team as she came out of the lift, closely followed by Castle. Ryan and Esposito both swivelled round in their seats as she put her coffee down on the table and shrugged her coat off. Castle took his seat next to her desk. 

Esposito went first."whoever it was that killed her must be an expert. they didn't leave a trace of evidence at all. no fingerprints, no nothing. " he picked up a photograph that had been sitting on his table and handed it to his boss. "the only thing out of place that the parents confirmed was this"

"a needle?" Castle raised his eyebrow as he peered over to look at the photograph. 

"what is it?" Beckett asked, looking up. 

"a needle that had had some unidentified liquid subance. forensics haven't confirmed yet what it is but they know that whatever it is its some high quality poison. "Esposito explained. 

Ryan picked a file from his desk. "also that doctor you wanted me to look at - his name is David milburn. been a doctor for almost 7 years. he was assigned the role of being Caitlyn`s doctor almost 3 years ago and has been ever since."

"did you get an address?" Beckett asked. 

"sure did" he picked up a post it note from his desk. "he lives about two blocks away from the hospital." Beckett took the post it note from him and frowned. "if he lives so close by how come no one`s checked on him when he didn't show up to work?" 

Ryan shrugged. "apparently according to his friend, he was rather upset about losing Caitlyn" 

"yeah - more like he has a guilty conscience" Beckett added in. "you both go up to see this doctor." 

Ryan nodded, locking his computer and picking up his coat, following his partner towards the lift. 

Castle turned to the female detective. "and what are we going to do? go home and have an early night" he gave his usual cheeky, boyish grin as his thoughts ran slightly ahead than what he had voiced. 

"as good as that sounds Castle, I have Caitlyn`s parents due here any minute" Beckett failed to keep a smile from her face as the look of disappointment flooded her boyfriends face. she picked up her now empty coffee cup and headed to the breakroom, Castle following her a second later mumbling under his breath. he lent in the doorway of the break room- watching her as she used the coffee machine. She could feel his eyes on her and her eyes darted briefly towards him and then back. "what?" 

"nothing" he replied in a way that clearly said something. "just thinking that you would have enjoyed having an early night that`s all"

she playfully rolled her eyes as she picked up her cup and headed back out into the bullpen. "I'm sure I would but duty calls" she teased. she sat down and took a swallow from her cup. she turned to Castle. "how`s alexis? she recovered yet?" 

"she`s better. just the cough that seems to stick with her" he replied. 

"so a bit like with Ryan then? that one symptom that never seems to go away for a while" she looked up when she heard voices by the lift. "looks like they`ve arrived" she stood up again and walked towards them. she held out her hand. "hello. I'm detective Beckett leading the investigation. I think you met another collegue of mine who works here. this is Richard Castle- a consultant" 

the woman shook her hand back. "yes. I spoke to detective Ryan. my name is lennox, this is my husband, luke" 

Beckett led them both into the room where many stricken family members have sat throughtout the years. she indicated to them to take a seat before sitting down opposite them- castle sat next to her. "what exactly happened that night your daughter died?" 

Lennox`s eyes filled with tears. "the day before she died, David told us that she didn't have long maybe a month" she sniffed, wiping her hand across her eyes wiping away the tears as more tears fell down her cheeks. "we had expected it I guess - Caitlyn was a very sick like girl but she always found something to smile about everyday" Beckett smiled softly. lennox continued. "the next day - we came to visit. I knew something was wrong when David met us. he had that sorrowful look to his eyes you know? that he knows what he`s about to say will break your heart" Beckett nodded in understanding, knowing full well that look. Lennox continued. "he - he told us that she must have had a clot to her brain - she had a blood disorder you see aswell as other things - and she had started to fail. they -" she cut off, her voice wobbling dangerously. she cleared her throat. "they said they hadn't been able to save her - my baby girl" her chin wobbled. "then this morning we got a call from the hospital to come immediately and thats when your detective told us that she had been poisoned. who would do such a thing!? everyone loved her!" she cried, her heart breaking. Castle subconsciously swallowed a lump that had formed. 

"that's what I was going to ask you" Beckett replied. "do you know anyone who would do this?" 

Lennox should her head sadly. "everyone loved my daughter" 

"how close was David to you and your daughter?" Beckett asked. 

Lennox`s head snapped up. "you don't think... it was him do you? David would never hurt our little girl! he was fond of her! she touched everyone`s heart!" 

"its just a precaution."Beckett reassured her. "just so we can get a better picture" 

Lennox nodded, biting her lip. "he was her doctor for about three years. he adored her - got on well with her. made her laugh. he was the best doctor to have for someone as ill as Caitlyn. "she sniffed and turned to her husband who had remained silent. "wasn't he?" 

he nodded. "he adored our little girl. he wouldn't harm her." 

"does anyone you know may have a grudge against you perhaps? someone who would hurt you like this?" Castle asked, leaning forward. 

Luke shook his head. "no. no one that would do this" 

Lennox squeezed her husbands hand. "what about Shyanne?" 

he turned away. "she wouldn't do this lennox..." 

"who`s Shyanne?" Beckett asked, looking from lennox to Luke. 

He sighed. "she had a child with the same illnesses as Caitlyn. when Caitlyn and her daughter were admitted to hospital they shared the same ward and we all really got along. then about 2 years ago, Caitlyn fell ill - seriously ill - and they had to do surgery. they also gave her some good quality medicine and she recovered." he cleared his throat, squeezing his wifes hand reassuringly. "two weeks later during Caitlyn`s recooperation time- shyannes daughter, Annabelle, became ill - similar to Caitlyn. unfortunately she died during the surgery and Shyanne ... well-" 

"she blamed us for it" Lennox finished off. "she blamed Caitlyn for surviving and not her daughter. she hasn't spoken to us in a months and then about three weeks ago she got in contact..." 

"i would like an address for this woman" Beckett asked, handing over a pen and paper.Lennox nodded and scribbled down an address before handing it back. "she visited Caitlin about a week ago - but it must have brought back memories and she got angry -real angry and walked off"

"she wouldn't do this lennox... she adored Caitlyn just like everyone else" 

"you didn't hear the threats she gave our daughter" Lennox snapped, the tears restarting, pouring down her cheeks. 

"what threats were these?" beckett enquired, crossing her leg across the other, leaning closer. 

"Caitlin had had an epileptic fit - due to the clots to her brain. they pulled her through it easily and Shyanne grew angry. she told me that "if my ungrateful daughter survived another near death experience she would permentally finish the job herself"" she retold. Luke groaned and squeezed her hand, the tears now flowing fast down her cheeks, dripping onto her blue blouse as well as Luke's. 

"well thank you for the information. if you remember anymore... " Beckett stood up, shaking their hands again. 

"of course" luke replied. Beckett and castle watched as they headed back to the lift where they were greeted by a uniform who took them down. Becket sighed turning to walk to her desk. "its cases like these..." 

"that get to you?" Castle finished for her, sitting down at her desk, looking at the murder board. 

"exactly. you cant imagine the amount of pain they must be going through" Beckett repied, staring off into space before refocusing her attention. "at least we have a suspect" she said, standing up to write shyannes name before sitting back at her desk. 

"we going to see her?" Castle asked. 

"soon. I want to find out more about her first" 

"i wonder If Ryan and Esposito are having some luck with David.." Castle voiced out for both of them.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"is this it?" Esposito asked his partner.

Ryan nodded. "this is it" 

Esposito pulled up and got out of the car and headed to the building, Ryan seconds behind. as they headed to the door, someone was coming out of the building who let them in. "saves buzzing. give him the arrival of a surprise" Ryan commented. 

they headed in, finally reaching the fifth floor after finding that the lift was not in order and knocked on the door. at first no one answered. "do you think he`s done a runner?" Ryan muttered. 

"one way to find out" Esposito replied, pulling out his gun. he knocked louder. "NYPD! open the door!" 

"like that's going to get him to answer" Ryan rolled his eyes. 

Esposito chose to ignore him and banged again when finally the door was thrown open. "what!?" a man , not much taller then ryan answered, blearly eyed. Esposito put the gun away and instead pulled his badge out. "NYPD. I'm detective Esposito and this is detective Ryan. we would like to ask you some questions" 

"whats this about?" David asked although by the slight nervousness in his stance, they knew he knew what. "we`re enquiring about Caitlyn`s death. we need to bring you in for questioning" Ryan answered. 

the door was suddenly slammed shut into their faces and Esposito banged on the door, preventing him from shutting it fully. David finally gave up and ran of, allowing the door to be opened.

"suspicious or what" Ryan commented, following his partner into the room. 

what happened next caught them unaware. David came running towards them, pushing hard to run through the door. Esposito, catching on , grabbed him and attempted to get him down on the floor and went to pull his gun out when David kicked hard into his stomach causing him to momentarily pause- allowing him to get up. Ryan was ready and had his gun raised. "put your hands up! now!" 

David ignored this and threw a punch in Ryan`s direction. more prepared then Esposito he ducked but didn't notice the other fist that came slamming into his face, knocking him sideways. 

Esposito had gotten back up by then but David had vanished out of the door. He gave chase, grateful to hear Ryan following meaning he hadn't been hurt bad, although his steps sounded slightly wobbly. By the time they made it down the stairs David was already running down the street. They followed but soon lost track. Esposito stopped. "The bastard" he panted. He turned to his partner. "You alright?" 

Ryan nodded, the bruising already beginning to show around a cut that was bleeding over his eyebrow. "Who would have thought eh? A children's doctor could escape two cops" 

"Say a word to anyone about this and I'll kill you" Esposito replied as he fumbled to get his phone out. "He was 6 foot tall" 

"He wasn't must taller then me javi" 

"Again - if castle asks - he was 6 feet tall" he put his phone to his ear. "Hey Beckett. We might have a problem...."


	4. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for late update! school work got in the way but I'm off ill (again) so managed to finish this up for you guys! enjoy!

"He got away? how?" 

Esposito shifted uncomfortably under the amused gaze of his boss. "he kinda got the drop on both of us unexpectantly. Handy with his fists" he hurried on." he must know something - to have run off like that don't you think?" 

"don't change the subject" Castle interfered, enjoying the moment. "how tall exactly was this man?" 

"shut up castle" 

"how many where there exactly that you went to see?" Castle teased. 

"i swear you better shut up or I will shoot you" Esposito threatened back. 

"alright alright. stop teasing him Castle" Beckett interfered, although enjoying the banter between them. "he must have been over 6 foot tall and he must have had friends right Espo?" she teased, sitting at her desk and struggling to keep a smile of off her face. 

Esposito scowled at her and shook his head, turning away to sit at his desk but turned round when Beckett began speaking again. 

"seriously Espo its fine. we`ve put out a photo to the press. someone should have seen him." she took a swallow from her cup. "where`s Ryan?" 

before Esposito could answer, Ryan came out of the break room, fixing his tie as he came. as he approached further the others could see the dark purple bruising around his right eye.

Beckett frowned in concern. " you okay?" 

Ryan nodded as he came to stand by the board, facing Beckett and castle. castle clearly amused, turned slightly. "i take it the man was at least 6 feet tall and there was a few to back him up...?"

Ryan nodded again before clearing his throat. "he couldn't have gone far. as far as I could see he wasn't carrying anything, so he would have to make a trip back eventually to collect some stuff"

Beckett nodded. "and when he does - we`ll be ready for him. in the meantime Shyanne`s details should be here any minute" 

"who`s Shyanne?" Ryan asked. 

"a friend of the family. " castle replied then thought for a moment before saying. "well actually an ex friend."

"she threatened them that she would `finish the job herself` of killing Caitlyn. apparently shyannes daughter suffered the same things Caitlyn did but Caitlyn survived surgery - shyannes daughter didn't survive. "

"and she blames lennox" castle finished off.

"sounds like the killer" Ryan stated, looking from Beckett to Castle and back. 

a uniformed officer approached them at that moment, handing Beckett a folder, she nodded to him as he headed off as she opened it. 

"all we have to do is find where she lives" Castle answered, looking at the murder board. 

"looks like we won't have too. uniforms checked it - she lives in park avenue." she shut the folder and dumped it on her desk, picking up her jacket. 

"do you want us to come too?" Esposito asked. 

Beckett shook her head. "its okay. i`ll do this one." then smirking as she slipped her jacket on she added, "besides - don't want you guys meeting more 6 feet tall men who overpower you both" 

both the boys frowned at their boss. "he - I mean - they didn't overpower us - just surprised us" Esposito defended as he stood up to sit at his desk. 

Beckett smirked at his response. "i want you both to get a hold of David`s financial records, phone calls - anything that will help us find out where he`s gone" 

they both nodded as they turned to their computer screens. 

"coming Castle?" 

her boyfriend quickly jumped up from the desk and followed her, falling into step beside her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"this is it?" 

Beckett nodded. "this is the place" she headed up to the door, Castle following on closely. "it`s not very - welcoming" he muttered, pointing to the sign just to the right of the door.

she shrugged, not bothering to respond as she knocked on the door, the door immediately being thrown open by a woman with flaming red hair and bright blue eyes- almost the same shade as Ryan`s, beckett reflected but not quite as bright. she held up her badge. "NYPD. I`m detective Beckett and this is richard castle - we`d like you to come down to the station to answer some questions?" 

"is this about Caitlyn?" she asked. 

"i thought that was natural? she was ill after all" she laughed nervously. "why would the police be involved in that...?" 

"she was murdered" beckett replied. the door was swiftly shut in her face and something heavy slid across in front of the door. Beckett pulled her gun out and banged on the door. "open this door now Shyanne!" 

they could hear shuffling and things being moved. Beckett looked at Castle and then back at the door before stepping back slightly and kicking the door in. she hurried inside, gun raised. "NYPD!" she cried. Shyanne froze , with one leg out of the window and the rest of her body still in. Beckett rushed over, grabbing her arm. "you`re coming with us" she put her gun away and reached for her handcuffs , snapping them on to the woman`s wrists- not trusting her without them. she lead her down stairs to the car, opening the back and placing her in before slamming he door turning to Castle as he came up behind her. 

"slamming the door in our faces and trying to escape? sounds suspicious to me" 

Beckett smirked as she climbed into the drivers side, Castle walking round to the other side, climbing in next to her. 

"this is all one big misunderstanding" Shyanne protested. 

"yeah? well from our point you looked suspicious alright. we`ll continue this down at the precinct"

as the lift dinged open, Ryan and Esposito looked up watching as Beckett led a woman with a sullen expression on her face, bright red hair towards the interrogation room. Castle headed over to the boys. "what happened?" 

"she tried to escape out of the window" Castle explained, taking a seat beside Ryan`s. 

"she surprised you too castle?" Esposito teased, raising an eyebrow. Ryan nodded along, grinning childishly. 

"well at least we caught ours instead of them escaping" Castle retorted.

"uh huh - you just didn't go there bro. " Esposito replied standing up. 

"once you all finished" came Beckett`s voice. all three of them looked up to see her standing by the interrogation room. 

they all stood up, feeling almost like school boys once again as they shuffled past her. she couldn't help but smile. she turned towards them. "Castle? you coming in?" she asked. 

he nodded, following her in. 

Esposito shook his head as he watched them walk into the room, through the glass. "we need to catch this Doctor" 

"agreed" Ryan answered. 

they turned their attention back to the room where Beckett had started to speak. 

"so Shyanne - we heard you lost your daughter? she had the same illnesses as Caitlyn?" 

Shyanne nodded, looking at the floor. 

I bet that made you feel angry?" Beckett stated, folding her arms on the table. "so angry indeed that she survived but your daughter didn't" 

"you have no idea" she growled. 

the door opened and closed and Ryan and Esposito turned their heads. 

"is this the woman that threatened Caitlyn?" 

Ryan nodded. "yes sir" 

"so when you learned that Caitlyn had had another near death experience and survived yet again that must have pushed you past your breaking point?" 

Shyanne nodded. I was just so angry - why did my daughter have to die instead of Caitlyn?" 

"is that why you killed her?" 

Shyanne abruptly tore her eyes from the floor and stared at them both wide eyed. she gulped. "look - I was angry but I wouldn't kill her. " 

"that's funny because we know this is what you threatened to them. you told Mrs Evans that `if your ungrateful daughter survived another near death experience I will permentally finish the job myself`" she put down the piece of paper. "you had motive, access to the girl - what would stop you from fulfilling what you threatened?" 

I said that yes! I was angry but I wouldn't hurt her! she was Annabelle`s best friend." Shyanne shouted. 

"Annabelle`s your daughter?" Castle asked.

Shyanne nodded sadly. "i may have said that but I was angry - I would never kill her. If anyone was to kill her it would be that doctor of theres" 

"David?"

she nodded. "i heard them arguing about a few weeks ago" 

"who?" 

"Lennox and David" 

"do you know what?" Beckett asked. 

she shook her head. I couldn't hear much - the only part I heard was something like ` you`ll play sometime`" 

Castle turned to Beckett. "he could have meant she`ll pay with her daughter" 

she nodded. "where were you off the night of the murder two nights ago around 6pm - 5am?" 

"erm I was at my sisters house. all night" she replied. "you can check - she was with me the entire night - so was her husband" 

"we will. thank you" Beckett stood up and opened the door, Castle closing it behind them. 

"well? do you think its her?" Gates asked. 

I don't know sir. " Beckett replied honestly. "she has motive sure - but - she knows what its like to lose a child, she wouldn't wish that on anybody" 

"well check out her alibi. and keep looking for this doctor, I'm going to put out his picture to the media to see if anyone`s seen him. he needs to be found"


	5. chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! hope you all are enjoying my story!  
> just a quick note: the poison mentioned in here is made up.... :)

Beckett threw down the folder she was holding onto her desk. "well - Shyanne`s alibi checked out" 

"really? " Castle answered, sounding disappointed. "I really thought it would be here - a revenge killing" 

"yeah but Castle? like I said, she knows what its like - she wouldn't want that for no one else" Beckett replied heading over to the murder board. she moved Shyanne`s picture to the other side. 

Castle came to stand next to her. "so we`re back to the Doctor" 

"no one`s spotted him since he fled last night from Ryan and Esposito." she studied his picture. "where could he have gone....?" she muttered to herself. she turned as Ryan headed towards them. they both turned to face him as he got to them. "anything new?" 

he nodded. "CCTV footage just came through from all cameras in the hospital" 

"anything you found?" Beckett asked as she followed him. 

"something" Ryan replied. I`ve been going through them and nothing stood out until now" he went up to the screen and started tapping. "I`ve filtered out the time that the death could have taken place and the only thing that looks suspicious is this" he clicked play. "watch this man. he`s careful to avoid all the cameras" 

Castle and Beckett stepped a little closer, focusing on the individual. the man on the screen, hurries through the corridors of the room, looking away from all cameras and averting his body in a certain direction. 

"where's he going?" Castle asked. 

Ryan shrugged, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"wait ... isn't that the corridor Caitlyn`s room was in?" Beckett asked. 

Ryan nodded. 

They watched on as they saw him turn towards a door and then look up and down the corridor. "zoom up on him" Beckett asked. 

Ryan obeyed and zoomed up on him as the man suddenly pushed the door open into Caitlyn`s room. Ryan zoomed in further to see what he was doing when the camera switched off. 

"what...what happened?" Beckett asked. 

"apparently the hospital had some sort of electrical overload causing all the electrics to switch off - lasted about 2 minutes and then everything came back on. The man was no where to be seen" 

"how could he just vanish?" Castle commented, looking from Beckett to Ryan. "he was in doctors uniform"

"go back again Ryan" Beckett said, biting onto her thumb nail. Ryan, again, obeyed and rewinded the footage back. the boys hadn't a clue what she was looking for. "ive watched this over Kate... there`s nothing there" 

"there" Beckett suddenly exclaimed. "pause there" 

Ryan paused the footage. she stepped closer to the screen, pointing towards the man. "he didn't avoid this camera." she commented, tapping the screen. "run facial recognition" 

ryan nodded as he began running facial regonition. 

"did you trace David`s fianacial records and phone calls?" 

"Esposito`s onto that now" Ryan answered. "but when I last checked with him - his financial records are clear, he hasn't used his card in the last 48 hours." 

the screen suddenly beeped and put up a response. Beckett frowned. "no no no" 

"there`s no match" Castle repeated from the screen."so he can`t be in the database" 

"pull up the website for the hospital" Beckett demanded. "if he`s a worker of the hospital then there should be a picture of him" 

Ryan typed in the web address and clicked onto staff. he scrolled through the pictures slowly, scanning every face as he went down. he turned back round once he hit the bottom. "no. he`s not on the list" 

"who are you?" Beckett muttered under her breath as she stared at the footage once more. a quick tap at the door brought all three of their attention away from the screen. 

"yo. we finally found a GPS track for the doctor`s phone." Esposito explained." he`s at JFK airport." 

Beckett nodded. "let`s bring him in"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
His heart was pounding and his hands were sweating as he moved through security to board the airplane. he was careful not to attract attention to himself as he hid his face so no one could regonise him. he knew his picture was out there and he knew the NYPD were looking for him. he knew he was a prime suspect and that's why he had to get away. 

"going somewhere Milburn" he froze and looked up and came face to face with a female detective, gun in hand - pointing right at him. he backed away and turned to run in the opposite direction but came face to face with two other detectives, guns raised at him. "hands in the air!" 

Ryan watched as his facial expression showed defeat and he surrendered, hands in the air. Beckett came up behind him, bringing his left arm down and clipping handcuffs round his wrist, dragging his right arm down and doing the same. "David Milburn you`re arrest on suspicion of murder..." 

 

The door opened and closed as the female detective and the detective that had that rookie look about him entered the room. they sat down in the chairs opposite him and he avoided eye contact with both of them, looking at the floor then at his handcuffed wrists. 

"do you think she`ll get him to break?" Castle asked, looking through the glass. 

Esposito looked at him. "without a doubt" 

they turned backed to focus on the interrogation. "at least we finally caught the guy.... see his knuckles are bruised..." 

Esposito gave him a look before turning his attention back to the room as Beckett began to speak again. 

"just letting that hang in the air..." Castle muttered softly which rewarded him with another death stare. 

"its funny that David, how detective Ryan here and his partner went to your apartment to bring you here for a statement but you ran off." Beckett leaned closer. "now doesn't that sound suspicious" 

David began to shake his head. "it`s not what it looked like..." 

"really? because from our side of the table you had every opportunity to give Caitlyn that poison" Beckett responded. 

"i swear - it wasn't me" David replied. "the girl had been my patient for years - why would I want to harm her?" 

"that argument you had with her mother" Ryan added, also leaning closer. "their friend overheard you talking to her and remembered you saying `you`ll pay sometime." 

David blew out his cheeks and looked away towards the wall, before looking back at them both. "yes, I said that but it wasn't what you think..." 

"then what was it David!" Beckett yelled, slamming her hand down as she stood up, pushing her chair away. " a little girl is dead David... a little girl that was in your care and you ran away instead of helping so tell me right now exactly what it was!"

"Beckett..." Ryan said softly, touching his arm. 

she stared David in the eyes, searching before taking a seat. she flicked her hair of her shoulder and folded her arms on the table. 

David swallowed hard. "look - what I said to Lennox..it didn't mean anything!" 

"then what did it mean?" Ryan asked. 

"she had borrowed money from me about a year ago - an emergency at home or something. I lent her it. I never got paid back" he explained. "what her friend heard .. we were arguing sure because I hadn't had it back yet and I was hitting ... financial issues ... I needed it back." he shook his head and bit his lip. "but then she explained ... about her other daughter and that she didn't have the money yet but she promised she`ll get it back to me just as soon as she finishes this issue. that`s when I said `you`ll pay sometime` " he swallowed again. "it wasn't meant to come out angrily" 

"why would you offer to lend your patient`s mother money?" Ryan asked. 

"after 3 years of treating her daughter she trusted me" David replied.

"she chose you after her family?" Beckett scoffed. "what was it really?" 

"just that! she trusted me!" David shouted. "look - she didn't get on with her family very well. they didn't like her husband so they practically disowned her when they married her" 

"and where do her parents live?" 

"they moved back to Las Vagas about three months ago" David replied. 

Ryan nodded. "where were you the night Caitlyn was murdered?" 

"i didn't have a shift that night. " David replied. 

"where were you then?" Beckett asked. 

"i was at home - with my girlfriend" he replied. 

"but then how did you discover the body?" Ryan asked. 

"i came back early" David sighed."me and my girlfriend argued. i didn't kill the girl i swear" 

Beckett nodded and stood up, closely followed by ryan. "I'm afraid we`re going to have to hold you" she opened the door and spoke to the officer standing outside. "put him in a cell" 

the officer nodded and entered the room, grabbing his arm and helping him up, leading him away down the precinct towards the cells. 

"do you think its him?" Castle asked as Ryan and Beckett entered the room next to interrogation. 

"i don't know..." Beckett answered truthfully. "maybe but so far he doesn't have motive" 

Ryan`s phone began to ring and he answered it with a "Ryan" before walking off. 

"we need to find out who this mystery man is in the footage" Castle stated. he looked up as Ryan headed back. "that was the FBI. they`ve tried facial recognitions on our mystery guy - no such luck. its like he doesn't exsist" 

"or good at what he does" Beckett responded as she headed back out into the bullpen towards the murder board, the rest of her team following. she studied the photo of their mystery man, taken from the footage. "why don't you want to be found...?" 

"maybe he`s a apparition" Castle replied. "that why his identity would be untraceable." Esposito raised his eyebrows and headed off to his desk. "think about it - an apparition thats roaming the hospital unseen.." 

Ryan nodded along. "the only issue with that Castle is that he seemed very real and people could in fact see him"

"you had to kill my theory" Castle sighed. "what happened to you Ryan?" Castle shook his head in disappointment at the younger detective.

just then Beckett`s phone began to ring and she answered with her usual response. "Beckett" she looked up at her guys at the news and nodded. "okay thanks" she disconnected the call and shoved her phone back into her pocket. "Lanie`s got something for us"  
~~~~~~~~  
"Lanie what do you have for us?" 

"forensics identified the poison" Lanie answered. "it`s a tonic named elixir, purely made from deadly plants in the Amazon." 

"that's far" Castle commented. 

"hmm -hmm" Lanie replied. "Caitlyn here had quite a lot in her blood stream." she pointed to a small little mark on her forearm. "this i believe is the mark where the needle entered and the poison was placed into her body" 

"didn`t Esposito mention a needle found at the crime scene?" Castle asked. 

"yep. i have that here too" Lanie responded. "the liquid substance has also been identified as this elixir" 

Beckett`s phone began to ring and she pulled it out - answering it when she saw Ryan`s name. she put it on loud speaker." hey Ryan - everything okay?" 

"I think there`s something you both need to see"


	6. chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry I haven't updated in a while been busy with school work. enjoy chapter 6!

Ryan placed a printed out report of a news article onto the table. "Look at this" 

"What is it?" Beckett asked. 

Ryan shook his head."just read it" 

The seriousness in his voice made Beckett realise this was serious. She picked it up and began to scan it,frowning in concentration. "Thats our mystery guy" she stated. 

"He's part of a most highly dangerous gang..." Ryan said,looking from Castle to Beckett. 

"Who are these people?" Castle asked. 

"the feds have been after them for a long, long time" Beckett responded. she ran a hand through her hair. "this changes everything"

"just catch them" Castle commented, looking from his girlfriend to the younger detective and back, clearly not getting it. 

"there`s a reason they haven`t been caught Castle..." she started as she stood up, coming to stand in front of the murder board. "they`re extremely good at what they do." she turned to Ryan. "but what doesn`t make sense is that they targeted a young girl? " she shook her head. "this gang normally targets high business people but a little girl...?" she turned to her boyfriend. "it doesn't make sense" 

"maybe she saw something...?"

"but what?" Beckett replied, staring hard at the picture of caitlyn. She shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "There has to be something we're missing - if he's "she pointed at their mystery guy. "Part of that gang then they must be targeting something big and this little girl was in the middle of it" she turned to Ryan. "Get out all the files you can find on this gang - see if anything sticks out" 

Ryan nodded before heading back to his desk. Beckett turned to face her boyfriend. "Come on" she grabbed her coat from her chair. 

"Where are we going?" 

"To the girls parents again" she responded as they headed to the lift. "Maybe they might know our mystery guy"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"I told you everything i knew" Lennox sniffed as she opened the door, tissue scrunched in her hand. 

"I know but theres somone who popped up in the case that we thought you may know" Beckett responded gently. 

Lennox nodded, leading them through to the livingroom. 

Beckett pulled out the photo of their mystery guy, holding it out. "Do you know this man?" 

Lennox sniffed again as she took it from her, studying the face. she shook her head, before passing it to her husband who had entered the front room. "no, I don't know him. why? is he the man that killed my girl?" 

"we`re not sure yet but we have reason to believe he was a part of it" Beckett responded. "you sure you don`t recognise him? maybe he was hanging around...?" she looked towards the husband as she said this watching a flicker of recognition fly across his face before he coughed and it was gone. he handed it back to her shaking his head. "nope.. sorry" 

"are you sure? you looked like you recognised him" Castle commented, catching Kate`s eye before turning back to the husband. 

"i thought I did - but I don't" he responded quickly. 

Beckett nodded, although her gut was screaming at her that he was lying. "you completely sure?" 

"my husband said yes" Lennox suddenly snapped. she sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry .. I didn't.." 

"it`s fine" Beckett responded. 

"if that`s all detective..." 

she nodded. "we can see ourselves out" she quickly added as Lennox started to move. she nodded and sat down on the sofa, the tears filling her eyes. "i hope you catch the bastard detective..." she whispered, her eyes full of remorse. 

"i promise" Beckett smiled before turning round and heading out of the door, Castle closing it behind both of them. once they were a safe distance away from the house Castle began talking. "he`s hiding something" 

"i know" she replied as she climbed back into her car, switching the engine on as Castle climbed in. "do you think he knows our mystery guy?" 

Beckett nodded as she pulled out, after a minute she replied. "he knows something. I`m sure of it" 

they were interrupted by her phone ringing as she answered it. "Beckett" 

Ryan`s voie filled the other side. "i got a hold of all the other reports that we have on all murders involving our mystery gang. The feds have called them the black ghosts at how they just disappear from view.. wiping all traces of evidence. "

"why the black ghosts?" Castle asked. "why not something more indimidating like.... the mysterious apparitions?? or-" 

"what kind of people are we dealing with Ryan?" Beckett cut in, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know" Ryan admitted. "But get this; the cases were unsolved and closed after months of practically getting nothing" 

"Like i said before - apparitions" Castle responded. 

"They're people - sorry Castle" Ryan replied. 

"Exactly. Good at their job Castle that's all" Beckett responded, glad to prove her point. "Ryan? try and find something - anything- that will point out who they are" 

"Beckett... I`ve tried... there`s nothing here. that's why they`ve never been caught" Ryan sounded on the other end.

"try anything Ryan. maybe our guys slipped up somewhere... keep digging Ryan" Beckett replied. she signed off the call and put her phone back down, her stance radiating frustration. 

she could feel the eyes of her boyfriend on her for the next few minutes and her patience was almost up. she took a glance at him. "whats bugging you?" she asked then quickly added before he could say anything, "and if you say anymore more on apparitions or ghosts or whatever I swear I will pull up right now and drop you off and make you walk back" 

Castle paused, before the enthusiasm left his face at whatever idea had taken over his mind. Beckett rolled her eyes. "there has to be something on them. one of them must have slipped up at least right..." her voice trailed off. 

"unless they`re extremely good at what they do" 

Beckett shook her head. "everyone slips up. everyone." she paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Ryan will find something" 

"and if he doesn't.....?" 

Beckett chose not to answer that. 

Once they arrived back at the precinct and the lift dinged open, Beckett and Castle entered the bullpen, heading straight for Ryan`s desk, whom was scrolling on his computer, head rested on his hand which propped up by his elbow. Beckett drummed her fingers on his desk to get his attention which caused him to jump. he frowned, not realising who it was but then his frustration fell from his face once he realised he was looking at his boss. "anything you found Ryan?" Beckett asked, attempting to stop a giggle from escaping from the frowny look on his face. 

Ryan nodded "after what...? 45 minutes of sitting here, searching every single police report, every single article , every single site -" 

"cut to the chase Ryan" Beckett cut in, looking over to Esposito who rolled his eyes. 

Ryan frowned again but continued. "anyways- nothing at first jumped out from the files so I took it further. I asked my people in narcotics if they knew anything at all about this people and it almost turned out to be a dead end but then one of my old partners told me about one file they had on our mystery ghost guys." 

"and...?" 

"apparently about 2 years ago, narcotics decided to see what they could dig out about these mystery guys. they tried to place an undercover officer into this group. - " 

"how did they do that?" Castle interrupted. "no one knows where exactly these guys habitat is" 

"i was just about to explain that" Ryan replied. he continued. "apparently what they did was interpreted a scene or something that the group would get involved in - personanated as a high business person and rolled from there." 

"did he manage to get into the group? or hear anything?" Beckett asked. 

"they took interest into him alright" Ryan responded.

"is he out?" Beckett asked. "can we talk with him or get hold of that file?"

Ryan didn't respond, as if he was struggling with what he was going to say next. "i could get hold of that file but... I can`t get hold of the guy that went under..." 

"they killed him?" Castle filled in questioningly. 

Ryan shook his head. "worse. people in narcotics lost him. they don't know where he is. it`s like this group has wiped the cop`s exsistence" 

"dammit!"Beckett cried in frustration. she stood up and crossed her arms. "who are these people?" 

none of her boys answered her so she turned to face the picture on the murder board, scanning all the information on there. "where are you hiding...? what would you want with a little girl....?" 

"Kevin!" 

Ryan, as well as Castle and Esposito turned to face the familiar voice. Ryan stood up fron his desk with a huge smile of his face. "Jenny!" she smiled back as she hugged him, kissing him softly on the lips. 

both of them didn't notice the silent communication between Espostio and Castle going on behind them. as they pulled away. "what are you doing here?" 

"wanted to visit you at work" Jenny responded, pushing her blonde hair from her face. "isn`t that allowed? for a wife to visit her husband at work?" she planted another kiss against his mouth which caused a snort to come from behind them - no doubt Castle. Ryan laughed softly. 

"plus I wanted to see how everything was going on here- considering you came back really tired yesterday" she gave his cheek a kiss before stepping away. "hi kate, javi, castle" 

Kae smiled as Castle responded back with a hi. Esposito stood up to come to stand beside Ryan, Jenny giving him a hug which he excepted and returned. "how tired was he last night?" 

"very" Jenny responded, knowing fullwell that what she told him he would use to tease her husband. "fell asleep right on the sofa. looked so cute as well with his hair all brushed down and swept across his forehead" 

Esposito grinned at this new information just as Ryan groaned as his cheeks flushed red. he quickly changed the conversation. "I`ll see you later. I`ll try not to get back too late."

Jenny nodded, smiling. "alright" she gave Ryan a kiss again on the cheek. "bye kevin." she turned to the others and waved goodbye as she headed back to the lift. Ryan turned around, finding Castle and Esposito looking at him, grinning. "what?" 

"you`ve been whipped since the very beginning" Castle nodded along with Esposito on that. 

Ryan just frowned at them. 

"leave him alone." Beckett said, however she was biting her lip to keep from smiling. 

"thank you" Ryan emphasised in confirmation before coming to sit back down at his desk, Castle and Esposito smiling behind him. 

"when do you think you can get those files?" Beckett asked, bringing back the seriousness in the room as she crossed her arms, studying the youngest member of her team. 

"already on it. we can have it tomorrow" Ryan responded. 

she nodded. "okay. why don`t we call it a day and resume tomorrow" 

the others nodded and started shutting down computers, gathering things together. Castle stood up to stand behind his girlfriend. "and what do you say of coming back to mine... we can get an early night" 

Beckett bit her lip, smiling as she picked up her coat and leaned in. "and that sounds just like a way to finish up a stressful day - getting an early night, catch up on sleep" she turned away and began walking to the lift, smiling to herself.

Castle paused, watching her go before shaking himself from his trance and walking to catch her up. "you did catch my meaning of an early night right?" then he added, "but if that`s what you want then that`s fine" 

"i knew exactly what you meant" she replied as they stopped to wait for the lift. she turned to face him, her long brown hair falling off her shoulder. "I`ll make sure I`ll wear my new nightdress" she whispered. 

Castle couldn't contain the look that crossed his face as he followed her into the lift. 


	7. chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I`m so sorry! I keep saying I`ll update regularly but then never do I`m really sorry! school work got in the way again :( anyway hope you enjoy! thank you for your kudos and comments much appreciated!! :)

The sun streamed through the curtain, causing Kate to shift in the bed and sigh before slowly opening her eyes, before pushing herself up in bed so she was sitting. She rubbed her hands over her eyes before brushing them through her hair and looking towards her left. The space beside her on the bed was empty. Castle must have woken up. She pushed the sheets away and stood up. 

"Ah! You're awake.excellent" exclaimed Castle, looking up from his position in the kitchen as Kate entered the room, hair slghtly tangled and dressed in his shirt. She sat down on the stool and grabbed onto the cup full of coffee gratefully. She took a swallow before asking. "What time is it?" 

"Ahh... just after 7" he replied, as he dished out the pancakes he was making. 

"And you're awake? Already making breakfast..." Kate responded. 

"Didnt sleep well last night. Kept thinking about the case..." Castle replied as he placed a plate in front of her. "Its happy to see you" he added when she looked down at the pancake, with a smiley face made out of strawberries. 

"Since when do you make faces out of fruit?" 

"Since now" 

Kate just smiled and began eating while studying her boyfriend as he began to clear away. Once she swallowed her mouthful she put her fork down. "Whats bugging you?" 

"I dont know - its just this whole case..." Castle began as he paused to turn to face her. "What if they have other people within the hosptial working for them? Or if they sneak in again? Could another girl be a risk?" 

"We'll catch them before they try again" she replied with confidence. "And if someone else is working for them then we'll get them- they'll crack and tell us where this gang is hiding" she smiled just as her phone began to ring. She picked it up. "Beckett" 

Castle began clearing away again and glanced up at his girlfriend, pausing when she looked up to meet his eyes, horrified expression. "Yes. I'll be there right away" she ended the call. "We need to get down to the hosptial" 

Castle's heart clenched. "Whats happened? Is it Ryan? Epsosito?" 

She shook her head. "Another girls been found in the children's home"

~~~~~~~~~~~  
"What do we have?" Beckett asked as she stepped under the tape that led into the ward.

"Her names tara wilkinson" Esposito explained."nurse found her this morning and immediately rang for the doctor" 

"Who was the doctor?" Beckett asked. 

"David milburn" 

Beckett raised her eyebrows. "Where's he gone?" 

"He ran- again. Ryan's busy trying to track him down" 

Beckett nodded as she approached lanie who was studying the victim. "What happened?" 

"Same way caitlyn died."Lanie responded immediately. "Same poison found in her bloodstream." 

"Time of death?" Beckett asked. 

"Between 4-5am this morning" Lanie responded. 

"How old?" Castle asked, his voice slightly hoarse. 

"She was 8" Lanie responded. "And seriously ill" 

"Just like caitlyn" Beckett said, sadness in her voice. "I'll go talk to the parents" she smiled before turning away, raising her eyes to the ceiling. "It's cases like this..."

"That really get to you?" Castlle finished. "I know. I can't even begin to imagine the pain the parents must be feeling" 

"Like hell properly" she responded as she made her way to the sobbing adults standing out in the corridor. "Who would do such a thing!? She was such a s-sweet g-girl" the mother exclaimed as they approached. Ryan was standing in front of them, a grim expression on his face. "We'll do everything we can" 

"First caitlyn... now tara!" The mother cried, her heart breaking. 

"You knew caitlyn?" Beckett asked. 

The woman nodded. "They were friends. They shared the same ward a while back -until tara got transferred" 

"Do you know anyone that would want to harm your daughter Mrs wilkinson?" Ryan asked. 

She shook her head as fresh tears fell. "She didnt have long .. the doctor only gave her 4 months. We were going to travel - do as much as we can- but thats all been ripped away" 

"Was tara seen by doctor David Milburn?" Beckett asked. Mrs wilkinson nodded. "How long?" 

"Only about 6 months" she sniffed. "Why? do you think its him?" 

"We just need all the facts" Beckett assured her. "Where were you both last night?" 

"We went back to visit our daughter at home." Mr wilkinson began. "We leave her so much with my mother because of tara. She says she doesnt mind but i know she does mind not having her parents around..." 

"So when the doctor said she was alright to be left we went back in the afternoon to spend sometime with our other daughter" the mother finished. "then this morning - about 6 we got the call to tell us that our daughter - had been m-murdered" the tears once again resumed in her eyes and began to fall down her cheeks. 

"okay. thank you" Beckett replied, smiling showing her sympathy through her smile. "she turned to Ryan. "has anyone seen the doctor?" 

Ryan shook his head. "no one at the moment has seen him except the woman over there" he indicated towards a little red haired standing in the corner. "she`s a training nurse and was assigned to Tara about 2 weeks ago. she came to give Tara her medicine and found her like this. she called for David and he showed but as soon as he saw Tara he panicked, kept saying `no` over and over again and then ran" 

"and that's the last time?" 

Ryan nodded. "we`re trying to track him now" 

Beckett nodded. "lets get back to the precinct. maybe we can access the sercurity cameras" 

"if it is this mystery gang again do you think they`ll be careless to be on camera?" Castle commented. 

"one of them was last time." Becekett replied firmly. "maybe they`ll do it again"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"who do you think this gang is?" Castle asked his girlfriend from his position beside her desk on a chair. 

"i don't know" she admitted. before he could start expressing his wild theories she added ,"but I do know that they are human with no special powers or anything" 

"i wasn`t going to say that" he mumbled, but before she could reply Esposito approached them. "Ryan`s found something you should both see" 

"is it our guy?" Beckett asked as she stood up from the seat. 

"just see" Esposito replied, something in his voice that Kate couldn't detect. they entered the room and spotted Ryan by the screen. "footage from the hospital" he explained as they entered. 

"our mystery person?" 

"just watch" He began playing the footage. "there`s two of them this time that enter. our mystery guy from the previous one and this one" he stopped talking so the others could watch the footage. 

they watched as two men, the first one from their previous screen and another man showed up at the hospital, again avoiding cameras and heading straight to Tara`s room. they enter and then the screen cut off. "and that`s where the cameras cut out again" 

"do we know who this other man is? is he part of the group?" Beckett asked, crossing her arms as she studied her youngest detective. 

"already done it" Ryan assured her. "and this is who it came up with" he clicked a tab and opened it up. "his name`s James Chambers" 

"anything stick out?" 

Ryan shook his head. "he`s never been in trouble with the law. record clean." 

"then why is he mixed up with these people?" Beckett asked. 

"that's just it. we don't know" 

"do we have an address?" 

"hmm-hmm." Ryan responded. "East 3rd" 

Beckett nodded. "come on. " she said as the rest followed her "this doesn`t make any sense.. why is he helping them?" 

"maybe he was forced into it?" Castle responded. 

"and where does David fit into all this?" Beckett shook her head to herself. "this is crazy" 

"yet exciting" 

Beckett chose not to reply.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"stay behind us" Beckett ordered her boyfriend as her and her team entered the building their suspect was currently staying at. 

Castle held his hands up in mock surrender. "I`m not about to forget am I?" 

"Well we never know what we may be facing" she replied. 

They hurried up to the 4th floor, walking along the corridor, Ryan and Esposito in front of them as they leant against the wall outside apartment 245. Beckett behind Ryan - Castle behind her. 

Ryan nodded to his partner before Esposito banged on the door. "NYPD! open up!" 

they were rewarded with silence. "NYPD! open up!" Esposito shouted again before looking at his boss and then stepping away from the door, before kicking it down. Ryan immediately entered the building, followed by the rest of them, shouts of NYPD. Beckett headed towards the bedroom, gun raised as she pushed the door open that wasn't quite shut." freeze! NYPD!" she shouted as she saw their suspect in the corner of the room. 

Ryan and Esposito followed in after her, upon hearing her shouts. "Put your hands up!" 

Their shouts startled him and he made a dash towards the window, quickly pushing it open. He managed to get one leg out before Ryan grabbed his arm and dragged him back inside. 

"I can explain...." he began as Ryan slapped handcuffs onto his wrists. "Thats what they all say" Ryan responded. 

His shoulders hunched slightly as he let them lead him down to the waiting car outside, placing him into the back. That had taken them less time then they had assumed. 

 

"Do you think its him?" Castle asked Beckett as they watched through the glass where Ryan and Esposito were about to begin interogating him. 

"Well he attempted to run..." Beckett began. "So if he's not our guy then he's hiding something..." 

"So James- guilty conscience was that it?" Esposito began. 

James sunk back in his chair. "My record is clean - i know you've checked."

"Well it can't be that clean if you ran when we entered..." 

"When police turn up at your doorstep its never good news" James replied. 

"And so you run away from us instead? Is that how you handle these things?" 

James just looked away. 

"Lets cut to the chase. Why were you in the hosptial with this guy?" Ryan pulled out the photo of their mystery guy and placed it in front of him on the table. 

James looked down at the photograph then leaned back. "I`ve never seen him before..." 

"is that so?" Ryan could detect the fear in his eyes. he leaned in closer. "there`s footage of you on the hospital CCTV cameras..." he slapped down the picture of him they had taken from the footage. "you gonna still stick to your story? or do you want to change it?" 

"that`s not me..." James replied feebly. 

"oh? it isn`t?" Esposito piped up. "sorry - our computer must be malfunctioning..." he stood up and pushed his chair back, coming to sit on the edge of the table next to James. he leaned in. "two girls are dead James.... and right now - you`re looking to become a suspect.." he paused for a few seconds, studying his face before adding, "so if you want to keep that record of yours clean... I suggest you talk" 

James took a fleeting glance towards Ryan who nodded. Esposito could see the wheels turning in his head and he slid of the table, coming to stand against the wall behind his partner. 

James looked between the two detectives, licking his lips nervously as if trying to work up the courage to talk. finally he shook his head. "they`ll kill me...." he whispered. 

"who would kill you?" Ryan asked, leaning closer. 

on the other side of the glass Castle stole a glance at Beckett. "why would they kill him?" 

Beckett thought for a moment, not taking her eyes of the room. finally she spoke, "he must have been forced into working with them - that`s why his record is clean" 

"who would kill you?" Ryan repeated. 

"them" he replied. "your mystery guy" 

"who are they? what do they do?" Esposito asked, coming to sit at the table again. 

"i had nothing to do with the murders of the girls..."James said firmly. "nothing" 

"okay.. but this guy did...?" Ryan asked, pointing at their mystery guy again. 

James nodded. "they asked me to be their look out..." 

"what were they up to? what are they doing?" Esposito asked. 

"i didn't realise it involved murder...." he replied, his eyes suddenly fearful. "i owed one of them a favour and before I knew it I was neck deep in this shit..." he drew in a shaky breath. "I`ve already told you too much already.. this gang - they`re dangerous -they`ll kill me..." 

"we can put you in witness protection.." Ryan responded. 

James` head snapped. "you don`t get it detective do you?" he sneered. "they`ll know I`ve been talking to cops... they`ll kill me..." 

"we can help you - " Ryan began but was cut off. 

"you got a wife?" James interrupted. 

Ryan nodded. 

" then I think you`d want to keep her safe detective.." James replied darkly. "you don`t know who you`re dealing with detective... they`re strong and good at what they do - disappearing without a trace- no record - nothing." he leaned closer toward Ryan. "they`ll hunt you down- all of you and snatch your loved ones away from you without a trace. I`m sure you don`t want that detective" his fearful eyes studied Ryan`s piercing blue ones. " stop investigating this one detective - otherwise they`ll hurt you - find your team`s weak spot and attack. it`s too late for me to be saved - they`ll discard me eventually. " he took a breath. "keep your loved ones close to you" then he shifted up and looked towards the glass behind the boys. "I know you`re listening out there - keep all of your team and loved ones close - they`ll attack when you least expect!" he raised his voice before turning back to Ryan and Esposito. "you`re the rookie on this team" he stated to Ryan. "you`re your team`s weak spot. if you want to keep breathing - stop. this. case." 

Ryan held his gaze for a moment before Esposito pulled him up by his arm. "are you threatening him?" Esposito hissed, not liking how this interrogation had gone, his protective instincts for Ryan kicking in. 

James shook his head. "I`m warning you- warning you all" he replied firmly. 

Esposito scowled at him with as much venom as he could muster before dragging his partner out of the room. Beckett and Castle came rushing out of the other side as Beckett signalled for one of the uniforms, standing outside, to deal with James. before Beckett could ask her burning question, Ryan butted in. "I`m okay" he assured them both. 

"you`re not our weak spot Ryan... he`s just -" Beckett thought for the right word. "scared. he`s trying to get to us" 

"what if I am though? what if that's how our mystery guy works?" Ryan began, rubbing his forehead. "what if they got to Jenny, or Alexis or your mother?" He aimed at the writer.

"they won`t." Beckett responded firmly. she touched the younger man`s shoulders making him look up at her, bright blue eyes on her brown eyes. "we`re stronger then them. whatever this gang is, its clear they're dangerous. but I`ve got the best detectives in New York working with me to bring them down. we`re going to win this Kevin" she squeezed his shoulder. 

"she`s right Kev" Esposito said, nudging his arm. "we`ll get them" 

Ryan smiled at his friends. he was being ridiculous. nothing was going to happen. They would make sure of that. 

Beckett looked at her watch then back up at her partners. "let`s call it a night. we`ll resume tomorrow" 

Esposito and Castle nodded, Esposito going over to his desk to collect his things while Castle turned to face his girlfriend. "so I`ve booked this awesome restaurant for dinner.."

She brushed her shoulder as she put on her coat. "i can`t wait." she replied. "need a break from this case"

"that`s what I thought" Castled replied as they turned to head towards the lift. "table`s booked for 7" 

"you can go home Ryan" Beckett said, as she was distracted by her team member, seeing him sitting at his desk. 

"that old narcotics file finally came through" Ryan replied. "wanted to have a look at it tonight before I go" 

"don`t stay too long" she warned as she headed past towards the lift, Castle beside her, beginning to talk dinner plans. 

"want me to help you?" Esposito asked. 

Ryan shook his head. "I`ll only be about half an hour" he replied. "go" 

Esposito nodded, putting on his coat then turned back to his younger partner. "you don't need to prove yourself Ryan ... if that's what this is about..." 

Ryan turned in his seat to face him. "No. I just want to get a head start in reading this - might speed things up. you never know what you might find" 

Esposito nodded. "okay bro. but don't stay too long. you`ve got date night with Jenny tonight haven't you?" 

Ryan nodded. "it` not until half 7. go. I`ll be fine" 

finally his partner left him and he turned to the open file in front of him, beginning to read over the Narcotics report. It didn't say much on the gang, it mentioned about the two officers that had went undercover and mysteriously gone missing. he shuddered at the thought. he knew how dangerous going undercover is. once he had read it all the way through he leaned back, feeling disappointed. Nothing. they hadn't found nothing. not anything new that they did not already know. he put his elbows on the desk and rested his face into his hands, brushing his fingers through his hair. what was it that James was so afraid of? who were these people that were part of this gang? He stared at the file , hoping that something - anything- would jump out at him. someone must have answered him because further down the page a sentence grabbed his attention. The person at the time that was helping the cops bring them down was Luke Evans....

Caitlyn`s father. 

wheels started to turn inside Ryan`s head. why hadn't he admitted he knew them? he used to be a part of them. he flicked the page, hoping for more information but the side was blank. he had been one of them - and agreed to help the police when he wanted out. he shook his head, dumbfounded before pulling out his phone and sending a quick text to Beckett and Esposito. once he put his phone away he looked up, realising the precinct was empty - he was the last one there. he checked his watch , seeing it was nearly 7. Jenny would be expecting him soon. he leaned over to switch his computer off when he froze upon hearing a noise. after listening for a further few minutes he shrugged and turned his computer off, standing up to gather his things when he heard it again. it was coming from up the stair at the end of the precinct. he stood up and followed the sound, not before he took his gun from his draw. 

he headed slightly up the stairs, the stillness unnerving him. someone was up there. he continued up , coming to the landing. "hello?" he called out, gun down in front of him so he could easily aim if needs be. when no one stepped out, he turned in circles slowly, noticing an open window. he sighed and let his hand drop to his side before heading over to shut the window. he was getting paranoid. he shook his head to himself as he turned back towards the stairs. he began to descend when suddenly he felt hands push hard against his back, causing him to lose his footing and fall down the stairs, banging his head hard against one of the steps and then again when he hit the bottom, darkness claiming him immediately. 


	8. chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made sure I posted this a quickly as I could as I know I was mean last time leaving it on a cliffhanger :D thank you specially to Lilablassblau for leaving a comment and making me motivated to update quicker! hope you all enjoy it!  
> ps: medical conditions mentioned may not accurate.

Esposito was interrupted from the programme he was watching by the sharp shrill of his phone. he mumbled to himself before picking it up. "Esposito" 

"Javi?" 

Jenny?" Esposito replied, couldn`t help but allow the surprise in his voice seep through. "what`s wrong? is everything okay?" 

"i`m not sure" Jenny replied. "its Kevin. he was meant to come home and change and then we were going to go out but its nearly 8- we`ve missed our reservation and Kevin isn`t answering his phone" 

Esposito sat upright on the couch and couldn't help but allow his stomach to fall. "we left him at the precinct checking over some old Narcotics reports. i bet you the idiot fell asleep" that's what he wanted to believe , but being a cop he had learned the ability of doubt. 

"could you check? i`m really worried about him" 

"sure" Esposito replied before ending the call. he then realised he had a text message and opened it, frowning when he read the text from his partner send almost 2 hours ago. all it said was he had found a break in their case and that he would explain it all tomorrow. He grabbed his coat and headed out to his car, pulling out immediately. As he drove to the precinct he couldn't help but allow his mind to play scenarios of what he might find. He just prayed he would find that Ryan had fallen alseep. 

Once he arrived he headed up into the precinct, the lift suddenly seemlingly to be taking ages as if it somehow knew he was in a rush. Finally, the lift dinged open at their floor and he stepped out. He immediately noticed that Ryan's desk was empty. Maybe he had left he thought but then decided against that when he noticed his stuff was still sprawled over his desk. Frowning now, he headed over. The file that Ryan had been working on was still on his desk and the draw was open too, revealing that at some point Ryan had taken his gun out. "Ryan!" He called, the sound echoing round the precinct. "Kevin!" He called out and walked jogged along, stopping short for a second when he made a discovery. 

"Oh shit! Ryan!" He yelled as he spotted his partner, laying sprawled on his side at the bottom of the stairs- unconscious. he dropped to his knees beside him, reaching out to feel his pulse, grateful when he felt it steady against his finger. however, that didn't make him feel any better as there was a small puddle of blood beneath his head. he pulled his phone out and dialled 911, giving them their location before disconnecting and turning back to his injured partner. he patted his cheek. "hey Ryan. can you hear me? come on ... open those eyes of yours..." it didn't do his nerves any good when Ryan didn't respond. He didn't know if his partner had sustained any spinal injuries. "come on bro - open those eyes of yours..." he shook his shoulder slightly before patting his cheek again which did the trick and Esposito was rewarded with his bright blue eyes opening to slits, his breathing hitched as he felt the pain that cured through him and tried to move but Esposito held him back down. "don't move you idiot - we don`t know if you have any spinal injuries" he was concerned with the lack of response and focus from Ryan but at least, he noted,that the blood puddle beneath his head hadn't grown any bigger. 

The silence was interrupted by the loud wailings of sirens and before long the EMTs had entered the room and headed straight over to them. Ryan didn't even seem to acknowledge them. They gently moved Esposito of the way even though he still stayed within eye view as they began to assess Ryan. Espo took his eyes briefly from Ryan as he tried to figure out what exactly happened when he heard hushed whispers and one of the EMTs frowned and nodded, beginning to take out an oxgyen mask. "Do you know how long he was unconscious for?" he then asked for a collar, before placing it round Ryan`s neck."Just a precaution " he explained.

Esposito shook his head."Whats wrong? What is it?" Esposito asked. 

"Do you know him?" 

"Course. He's my partner. Whats wrong?" He repeated, seeing the worried looks on the EMTs. 

"We think he's slipped a disc in his back when he fell. He's having trouble moving his legs so it could be serious" he replied. "Also a few ribs are broken and a few cracked and his right arm is broken in two places" 

that was something Esposito didnt want to hear. He turned his attention back to Ryan whom was still laying on his side where he had first found him, taking in a sharp intake of breath and squeezing his eyes shut as the room began to spin. his head hurt like a bitch, throbbing with every heartbeat,his skin taking on the colour of snow. The EMTs began to assess how to get his on the gurney without injuring him further, finally agreeing to turn him over slowly and lift him onto the stetcher and onto the gurney. One of them took out a collar and placed it onto his neck. 

Esposito watched on, standing up when Ryan was lifted onto the gurney, an oxygen mark immediately being placed on his face, allowing him to breathe more easily. His looked awful. His hair was matted down on his head where there was a gash still seeping blood. 

"okay. lets get him downstairs and into the ambulance" one of the EMTs stated. 

On the way down, Esposito called Beckett, never losing pace with the EMTs as he went. after the 5th ring she picked up. "this had better be important Espo..." 

"Its Ryan. Something happened - he's in a bad way. We're on our way to the hospital now" 

Beckett`s eyes widened as she looked up at the other end of the table where her boyfriend was staring at her with a concerned look on his face.

"What?" Castle asked, unease setting in. He knew something was wrong - he could tell. "what's happened? another victim?" 

"we`re on her way" she answered, not anwering her boyfriend yet. she hung up and stood up. 

"Kate... who is it?"Castle asked as he hastily followed her out of the restaurant. 

"its Ryan" she replied, concern in her voice. "Esposito found him at the bottom of the stairs in the precinct unconscious" 

"did he slip or something?" Castle asked as he hurriedly climbed in next to her in the cab that Kate had flagged down , telling the driver the name of the hospital. she turned to him. "Esposito wasn't sure but it looked that way." 

"did he say any more over the phone?" 

Kate shook her head. "he`ll tell us more once we get there" 

after 10 very tense minutes they finally reached the hospital in which Esposito had said they had taken Ryan and hopped out of the cab, Castle quickly shoving money into the drivers hand. they headed up to the doors and asked at the desk. Before they could get a response they spotted Esposito further down the corridor and without waiting for a reponse from the receptionist they hurried down the corridor. "Espo!" Kate exclaimed, grabbing his arm. "what happened? I thought he was going home?" 

he sighed. "he was. he said he was going to check out those narcotics file before he left and then leave.i also received a text message about 2 hours ago from Ryan before Jenny called stating that Ryan hadn`t turned up for the meal." he rubbed at eyes with the palsm of his hands.

"what did they say?" Kate asked softy, seeing the worry edged into his face. she touched his arm again feeling the tension. 

Eposito sighed. "he`s got a few cracked and broken ribs aswell as a broken arm and collarbone and concussion from the gash on his forehead but the worrying thing for the EMTs were the fact Ryan was having trouble moving his legs.." he took in a shaky breath before continuing. "they think he may have a slipped disc in his spine that`s cutting into his nerves. they think it may be serious and if it is he would require surgery...."

"they haven't said anything?" Castle asked. 

"they took him straight to MRI. they`re not telling me nothing!"

"has anyone told Jenny?" 

"i forgot" Esposito admitted. "i was concerned with getting Ryan to hospital... I should.. properly do that" Castle and Beckett watched on before taking a seat In the waiting room. 

"I`m sorry for ruining a night out Castle...." Kate said softly. "i know how much you had planned for it" 

Catle immediately shook his head. "you have nothing to apologize for Kate... " he took one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. "Ryan`s like family to me too Kate ... and if something`s happened to him then I want to help as much as I can like you" he gave her hand another squeeze again. "he`s kinda like that annoying little brother that always seems to get into trouble" 

Kate laughed. "rubs off on you doesn't it?" the smile slowly faded from her face. "thank you" she aid softly. 

Castle smiled softly back as Esposito came back over. "she`s on her way" 

Kate nodded. 

for the next two hours Esposito resumed into pacing while Castle and Kate sat on the chairs, conversation non existant as all of their thoughts were trained on their fellow co worker, all wondering what had happened. it was obvious now that he had probably fallen down the stairs but Ryan wasn`t normally that clumsy. They were interrupted from their thoughts as the doctor headed towards them, clipboard held in his arms. "family of Kevin Ryan?" 

they stood up as he spoke, the worry clesr on all of their faces. "Is he gonna be okay?"Esposito asked before the doctor could say anything. 

He smiled reasurringly. "Detective Ryan is doing fine. He's currently sleeping off anastetics that we put him under" he cleared his throat. " now, the slipped disc in his spine wasn't as serious as we first thought and he didnt require any surgery. The disc had swollen up and was pressing onto his nerves that sent signals to his legs but the swelling should go down in a few days and it will relieve the pressure off the nerves." 

Esposito let out a breath that he hadn't realised he was holding. 

The doctor pushed up his glasses that had been slipping down his nose. "He has severe conussion and several bruises and a broken collar bone. We wrapped up his right arm in a cast, it was a clean break so should heal nicely. 2 of his ribs were broken and 1 was cracked but like the arm whould heal with lots of rest and so will the collar bome. Although I`ll admit he did go into shock but we managed to stabilise him " 

"Can we see him?" Kate asked, speaking for all of them. 

The doctor nodded and they followed him out of the waiting room to the room that Ryan was in. he pushed the door open, stepping aside to allow them through. Esposito went in first, closely followed by Kate and Castle. Ryan was currently laying in the bed, breathing even as he still slept. he had his arm in a cast, stitches on his forehead and numerous purple bruises across his body. At least the neck brace had been removed.They didn't have to look to know his ribs were also wrapped up tight. The blankets swamped him, giving him that child like look. They slipped into the seats that were against the wall, silence still eating away at the atmosphere around them. 

"he`s gonna be alright" Kate said reasuringly to her friend. Esposito met her eyes but then looked away. "maybe I should have stayed with him to look through the narcotics report..." 

"trust you to think that" Castle replied. 

" he took his gun out of his draw - it was left open" Esposito commented, sitting on the edge of the chair. "someone must have been there!" 

"he could have just slipped Espo..." Beckett replied softly. 

"that's why he went upstairs.. he heard something!" 

"so you`re saying what? that he was pushed?" Beckett asked. 

"i don't like it anymore then you do but why else would he be up there?" Esposito answered. 

"he could have just slipped `sito." Castle commented, his tone hushed. 

"he`s not that clumsy" 

they were interrupted by a rather anxious Jenny who appeared at the door. she had tear tracks down her cheeks and her blonde hair was all wind swept. "i knew something had happened" she choked out, stepping into the room. Beckett got up to comfort her, bringing her to sit down. "he`s going to be fine Jenny. " 

"Javi mentioned a slipped disc..." she trembled. "tell me it`s not serious..." 

"it`s not" Beckett reassured her, rubbing her shoulder. "he`s going to be fine"

she nodded, attempting to get her emotions in check, wiping her eyes and smudging her mascara down her cheeks which were wet with tears. " do you know what happened?" 

"we think he may have slipped" Beckett replied gently. "or he may have been attacked. we wont know for sure until he wakes up" 

she nodded again, grabbing one of Ryan`s hands in hers, squeezing softly, reaching with her other hand to brush his fringe from his forehead.

the others suddenly felt they were imposing in on a private moment and decided to give her some time alone with her husband, heading out to wait in the corridor. 

"we need to know what happened..." Esposito said, determination in his voice. 

Beckett knew he was feeling guilty for not being there for his partner. "we will once he wakes - I promise" she promised. she glanced up at the clock as she shivered softly. it was nearly 11. she was only wearing the dress what she had worn to her date with Castle and hadn't brought a warmer coat. but she ignored the coolness - Ryan was more important. 

just after 1 in the morning, the doctor entered the room, doing his routine checks. he paused when he saw them all, never realising they were there. they all sat sprawled on the chairs by the walls, several coffee mugs littered the table. they had hoped that he would wake up so they would find out what had happened but so far Ryan hadn't woken. "its late. Detective Ryan is going to be fine. he`ll properly be asleep until later. In the meantime, why don't you all go home? get some rest?" 

Esposito was about to protest when Jenny cut in. "he`s right. That's what Kevin would have said" she smiled softly. 

"Are you staying?" 

Jennt nodded. "I promise i'll call you as soon as he wakes"

"I'll be back tomorrow" Esposito said in a tone that his mind was set and no one could change it. 

They filed out of Ryan's room, turning back when the doctor had followed. "Detective Ryan has some great friends" 

Beckett nodded. "We're like family. We stick together" 

The doctor smiled warmly before heading off.

"Come on Espo.." Kate started. "We should get some rest. We can carry on tomorrow" 

He nodded without saying a word before heading towards the exit. Kate watched him go. 

"He's gonna still feel guilty isnt he?" Castle commented from behind her. 

"Yep" Kate replied, still staring at the retreating figure of her friend. "Lets go home. its been a long day"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Kate woke to the sound of her phone ringing. She rolled over and answered it, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Beckett"

"Get down here now. That doctors been found again" the captain said firmly down the line before hanging up.

The sleep seemed to disappear immediately as she scrambled to get up, her frantic movements disturbing her boyfriend who rolled over to face her. "another body?" 

She shook her head. "The doctors been found. Uniforms are bringing him in now" 

Within 20 minutes they had managed to get to the precinct, coffee mugs in hand. as soon as the lift dinged open they were immediately met by Gates. "I sent uniforms to grab him. he was again trying to get away by the airport." she led them down. "get him to talk Beckett." she turned. "get him to crack" 

Beckett nodded, opening the door to interrogation. she paused and looked back up when Gates called her name. 

"see if he knows anything about what happened to Ryan" 

"yes sir" Beckett replied. she pushed the door open, Castle following on in as he shut the door. she studied the doctor from where he was seated as she took her seat opposite him, taking her time as she opened the file. finally she looked up and crossed her arms over the file. "this just keeps coming back to you doesn`t it?"

"i swear it`s not what it looks like" he replied. 

"why did you run?" 

"because I knew what it would like!" David shouted. "I knew what the cops would think. another girl in my care! killed!?" he blew out a breath and leaned back. "I`d be the number one suspect" 

"well you had access" she added. she pulled a photo out. "do you know this man?" she pulled the photo out of James and then another of their mystery guy. 

David leaned forward, frowning slightly as he studied the photos. he picked up the one of James. "this one I know" he stated. "that one I`ve never seen him before" pointing at their mystery guy. 

Beckett nodded. "where do you know him from?" 

"seen him around the hospital" David replied, setting the photograph down. "i never thought much on it at first but now -" he took a moment to think. "he was always there you know. watching. it was as if he was studying every part of the hospital. where everything was." 

"so he could help this gang get to the girls" Castel commented, looking at Beckett. 

"are you certain you never saw this man?" Beckett asked, again, pointing to their mystery guy. 

David shook his head. "nope. I'm sorry" he leaned back. "i swear I never hurt either of the girls... I only ran because of how it looked - I was scared okay? I didn't know what else to do." he hung his head. 

Beckett took a fleeting glance towards Castle, catching his eye before turning back to David. "just one more question for you - you remember our younger detective?" David nodded. "well there was an incident last night involving Detective Ryan. do you know anything about that?" 

David`s face suddenly hardened. "first you accuse me of murdering two girls and now attacking your detective!?" 

"i just want to know if you heard anything - saw anything..." Beckett asked, remaining calm. 

"No! and that's the truth" he shouted. "why can`t you people just leave me alone!?" 

"because two innocent young children have been murdered!" Beckett raised her voice, standing up, leaning her palms on the desk. "and now one of my own have been injured so forgive me for asking questions on where you escaped too! did you really think that was going to help what we believed?" she studied his face as his eyes locked onto hers. for a few seconds this carried on before he dropped his gaze, the fight leaving him. "i didn't harm neither of the girls. for both murders I was with my girlfriend and you can check- check with her doorman as well. as for your Detective I don't know nothing about that and that`s the truth" he looked back up again. 

she studied him a little longer before slowly sinking back into her seat. "don`t worry. we`ll check"

"can I go now?" David asked. 

Beckett nodded, watching him leave, chewing her lip as she thought. 

"What do you think?" Castle asked after a moment. 

"i don`t think its him. he wouldn't have made it so easy to catch him" Beckett replied. "whoever our mystery guy is - I'm betting that's our guy..." 

"do you think Ryan was attacked?" 

"i don't know Castle" Beckett replied truthfully. "he`s never fallen down those stairs before... and like what Espo described... Ryan had taken his gun out. something had gone on" 

"but we won`t know for sure until Ryan wakes up" Castle added on, standing up. 

Beckett followed suit just as Esposito poked his head round the door. "Jenny called. Ryan`s awake" 


	9. chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Ford_Ye_Fiji for your comment. Ive took it into consideration and tried to improve my grammar within my story ! Enjoy!  
> ps: im so sorry for being nearly two months late! When the app updated it wouldnt work on my laptop for a while and now my wifi service has blocked the app :/ ive reported it and now I can access the site again so hopefully regular updates. also I want to apologise for the crappyness of this chapter. its been ongoing for a while now.  
> anyways enjoy! Hope it was worth the wait! Xx

"Do you remember what happened?" 

Ryan glanced up at his co workers, the medication in his system causing him to feel drowsy. His eyes kept dropping but they would blink back open as if he was using every ounce of strength to stay awake. "Its all fuzzy" he said quietly and slightly slurred from the amount of medication he was on. 

"Did you slip? Was that it?" Epsosito prompted.

Ryan scrunched up his face in concentration, trying to work through his muddle thoughts. "Yeah- maybe. I'm not sure..."

"Why did you go up there?" Beckett piped up from the opposite side of his bed.

Again, he scrunched up his face. "I heard something - went up there to investigate"

"And...?" Esposito butted in.

"The window was open..." Ryan replied softly. "I went to close it and then .... i just remember falling."

"Think harder Ryan. Did someone push you?" Esposito prompted again, trying to get his questions to pass through Ryan's muddled brain.

"No... yes... maybe?" Ryan began before closing his eyes again. "My head hurts" he tried to lift his arm to suss out why his head hurt so much but found his arm felt like led- too heavy to lift.

"Well try harde-"

"Espo!" Beckett raised her voice. She noticed Ryan wince and took her voice down a notch as she stood. "Can i talk to you outside a moment please?"

Esposito looked between his partner and his boss, unsure of what to do.

"Castle will look after him." Beckett answered, making his decision for him. She turned round to exit the room, grateful to her her co worker's footsteps behind her. None to happy though but she could deal with that. As soon as they were in the corridor she rounded on him. "What were doing? Interrogating him like that!?"

"I need to know what happened ..."

"I know! But he's severely concussed and dealing with a lot of pain right now" she said as she studied his face.

"But-"

"I know you want to find out what happened so do i!" She expressed. "But wait until he's more coherant."

Esposito's shoulders dropped in defeat. "I should have stayed behind with him"

Beckett shook her head. "No. Dont even go down that path Espo." She stepped closer to him. "What happened last night was not your fault. Ryan would say the same thing."

"What if i had-"

Beckett cut him off again. "Its in the past - there's nothing more we can do except find out who did this to one of ours if indeed Ryan was pushed and if he had just slipped we'll punch him for scaring us and being clumsy okay?" She scanned for his eyes until they met hers and he grumbled out an answer.

Satisfied he wasn't going to do anything stupid she pushed the door back open to Ryan's room, sitting back down next to her boyfriend as Esposito followed suit, sitting opposite them. Ryan had fallen alseep again, obviously finally allowed the exhaustion to catch up with him.

"Did he say anything to you?" Esposito asked.

Castle shook his head. "He pretty much just fell alseep shortly after you went out"

"What i don't get is if someone pushed him why?" Beckett asked, looking from one to the other and back.

"As a warning prehaps?" Castle piped in.

"To who? And for what?" Beckett asked as she sighed.

"To do with the case maybe? This mystery gang" castle answered, turning so he could fully face her. "A warning to stop whatever we're doing"

Beckett chewed her lip as she considered what he had said before being interupted by the sharp shrill of her phone. She pulled it out and made a face as she realised it was their captain. "Hello sir...."

Esposito tuned out as Beckett answered to their captain. He was more concerned with his partner, not what his captain had to say. Finding Ryan unconscious at the bottom off the stairs like that - he had thought for one terriflying moment that Ryan was dead. It was something he didnt want to repeat anytime soon...

Beckett's conversation with their boss broke through his dark thoughts. "But sir- " she sighed heavily,frustration evident on her face. "Okay. Okay we'll be right there" she hung up and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "We've got to get back to the precinct"

"Why?" Esposito questioned.

"Because there's a pile of paperwork growing and Gates needs us back" she said softly.

"I'll stay here" Castle piped in as he placed his hand gently on Esposito's shoulder. "Iron Gates can't order me back - i don't work there offically"

"Yet there are days when you say you do" Beckett teased. "Selective work"

"Hey. Im trying to be supportive and you ruined it!" Castle said lightly.

Esposito knew once again that his boss had made his mind up for him. "I'll be back later"

Castle nodded and gave Beckett a knowing look which thankfully was unnoticed by Esposito. Beckett smirked and followed her detective out of the room and out of the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"why am I back here again?"

"you know why!" Esposito tossed back immediately as he stared him down.

James squirmed under his glare as he looked back up at the female detective. "I swear I know nothing"

Beckett chose to ignore his comment. "tell me about this man" she slapped the photo down from before of their mystery man.

James sighed and leaned back in the chair. "not this again" he leaned forward again when both detectives shared a look. "look- he`ll kill me if he finds out I`ve been talking with cops"

"we can put you in witness protection." Beckett said, as she crossed her arms onto the table, leaning closer.

"you cops just never listen do ya?" James sneered, although Beckett could still clearly see the hint of fear glistening in his green eyes. "i already told your other detective that-"

"threatened more like" Esposito interrupted. he stood up, coming to stand next to him, palm flat on the table. "lets play this another way - my partner was badly injured last night, funny though how it happened shortly after you threatened him"

the sneer dropped from James face immediately. "what?"

"why don't you just tell us what happened and we can move on" Esposito growled.

"Wait wait ... you cant think i had something to do with this?" The confident almost cocky personality had dropped entirely from James and was replaced with fear.

"Well you seem the perfect suspect don`t you?" Beckett chipped in. " you told detective Ryan that something could happen to him or someone any of us cared about - and now detective Ryan -someone we care about - has been injured." She stood up also. "If you know something James now would be the best time to say"

"I swear i dont know nothing about what happened to the guy!" He shouted. "I only warned him that something could happen i didn`t threaten him"

"So what its a coincidence that something happens to the Detective you 'warned'!?" Esposito raised his voice causing James to squirm again.

James wiped his sweaty hands subconsciously against his jeans. "coincidences can happen."

"Damn it James!" Beckett snapped, slamming her hand flat on the table, her hair falling about her shoulders furiously. " tell us exactly what you know! I am done beating around the bush! we have two dead little girls! - girls that had families who cared about them who deserve the right to know what happened to their daughters. and now I have an injured detective as well!" she paused to study him, eyes searching for any hint of what he was hiding. "all I want is to know what happened - who these people are - give us that and we can cut a deal with the DA."

James swallowed hard and wiped his hands against his jeans again. "you don't know who you`re dealing with detective..."

"believe me .. I have half of this precinct on this case .. we can handle it" Beckett responded immediately, her eyes never leaving his. "who are these people?" she demanded firmly as she pointed to the photograph. "who are they? what did they want with the girls?"

"they knew who had ratted them out..." James said quietly. "they wanted revenge.. and they got it"

Beckett slowly sunk back into her chair as did Esposito. "who ratted who out?"

"that mystery gang of yours.. someone ratted them out and they weren`t happy" James replied.

"who ratted them out?" Esposito asked. Could that have been the break through Ryan had found going through those old narcotics report? maybe a look through them himself would be in order.

"i don't know and that's that truth" James responded, holding his hands up. "they didn't tell me. all they told me was that they had found who had been the rat and they knew a way of getting revenge"

"and that's where the girls come in" Beckett turned to Esposito. she turned back to James. "are you sure they didn't mention a name?"

he shook his head. "no- no they didn't"

Beckett nodded and stood up, closing the file and left the room, nodding to the officer standing outside of the door.

"do you think this is what Ryan had found out?" Esposito asked, voicing his questions from earlier.

"if it is then we need to get a hold of that file he was looking through - maybe there`s a name" Beckett replied as she dumped the file she was holding onto her desk. she brushed her hand through her hair before looking at the time. "if you want to clock of early to go to Ryan that's okay - I can manage from here"

Esposito shook his head. "that wouldn't be fair"

"please... since when have you cared about that before" Beckett threw back lightly. she watched him frown and laughed. "but seriously - Go. I know that's where you would rather be.- besides you`ll be relieving Castle of babysitting duty - not that he minds"

"thanks Beckett" he didn't need to be told twice. he grabbed his coat of the back of his chair and hastily made an exit in case she changed her mind - not that she would do that.

he made record time in getting to the hospital - properly because there wasn't a lot of traffic on the roads- after all he was out of work earlier then usual. once he entered Ryan`s room he found that he was fast asleep and Castle was still sitting in the chair they left him in except now he had his laptop balanced on his legs and his fingers were furiously typing hard at the keyboard as if it had insulted him. "Castle?" 

Castle looked up. " oh hey `sito" then to a sleeping Ryan he said, "see? told you he would be back -his love sick got the better of him" 

"shut up" Esposito huffed but took the seat opposite Castle. "how is he?" 

"well he woke up again about half an hour after you both left - he was slightly more coherent then before but not by much. he fell asleep shortly after and been like that ever since" 

Esposito nodded, resuming the silence between them. a few minutes later the sound of fingers typing furiously at a keyboard resumed and Esposito tore his eyes away from his sleeping partner to look back at the writer. "since when did you have your laptop on you?" 

"i had a beautiful girl deliver it for me" Castle replied without looking up. 

Esposito raised at an eyebrow at him. "dude... seriously?" 

Castle stopped what he was typing to look up at him. "yes - Alexis" he shook his head as he resumed typing again. "i don't know Esposito... after this long of knowing me and you still think I would do something like that.." 

Esposito bit back a smile as he rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back to Ryan just as he started to stir and brought a hand up to rub at his eyes before blinking them open slowly. Esposito leaned into his line of view. "hey bro, how you doing?" 

"I`m okay" Ryan replied, his brain felt less fuzzy then the last time he had had been conscious. "where`s Beckett?" Ryan asked. last time he had been awake he remembered seeing Beckett sitting somewhere to his right.

"Gates called us back to the precinct" Esposito responded.

"why aren`t you there?"

"he had a serious case of love sick" Castle answered which rewarded him with a death stare. "it`s true" he shrugged while he fought to keep a straight face.

Ryan grinned. "missed me that much did you?"

"Beckett let me clock of early - that's what happened" Esposito replied firmly to Ryan while shooting death stares towards the writer who had resumed typing again with a smug expression on his face.

"only `cause you missed him so much"

"i will break your laptap" Esposito threatened as he turned round to glare at the writer before he turned back to his partner. "you gave us all quite a scare" he said solemnly, suddenly realising how serious Ryan coud have been injured in the fall down the stairs.

"he means him" Castle chipped in, rising his eyes over the laptop screen to grin at them before placing it onto the chair next to him. "nah... you gave us all quite a scare Ry" attempting to still keep the atmosphere light in the room.

Ryan smiled lazily. "I`m sorry for scaring you all" he winced as his shifted, sending pain slicing through his body like a knife through butter. he squeezed his eyes shut to try and rid the pain.

"easy kevin..." Esposito causioned, leaning further forward and rubbing his hand up and down his arm. "the stairs banged you up quite a lot. your black and blue all over kev.."

"noticed" Ryan crumbled as he breathed in and out slowly to manage the pain. he went to shift his legs slightly but slowly so not to aggravate any more of his broken bones but realised he was having trouble to do that. His eyes flew open when he realised this and made to sit up.

"woah! stay still you idiot" Esposito cursed, Ryan`s sudden movement surprising him and grasped his shoulder gently to push him back down. " my legs .... I can`t move them! I can`t move them!" Ryan exclaimed in a panic, his blue eyes wide.

"calm down Ryan" Esposito soothed, resuming his movement from earlier and rubbing his hand up and down his arm. "when you fell your back took a beating and you slipped a disk in your spine which is pressing against your nerves but it should relieve the pressure in a few days "

Ryan stared at his partner as he took it in, allowing his heart rate to slow back to normal. he let out a breath in relief.

"you okay now?" 

Ryan nodded. "I`m sorry.. I panicked myself"

"its fine" Esposito dismissed. He watched as Ryan began to yawn again and his eyes blinked sleepily. Esposito knew he had to ask his dying question before Ryan fell asleep again.

"i know you`re tired Kev .. but I gotta ask you something.."

Castle knew what he needed to ask and knew it was time to make himself gone. He should probably head back to the precinct and help Beckett, after all, all of her team were now sitting in this hospital ward...

"listen ... I better get going.." he announced, grabbing his stuff. "I`ll see you soon Ryan"

"yeah .. see you" Ryan responded as he yawned.

once the door clicked Esposito switched to the seat Castle had vacated. "listen... can you remember what happened when you fell?"

Ryan thought hard for a moment, the concentration shone on his face. after a moment he shook his head. "i can`t remember.... "

"whats the last thing you remember?"

Ryan pushed through his muddled thoughts, attempting to grasp at something - anything as to why he was here. "all I remember is staying behind after you left looking through that file.. and then its blank right round until when I woke up the first time"

"what about the open window? hearing something? you mentioned it the first time you woke up" Esposito pointed out. 

Ryan thought for a moment and shook his head. "I don`t remember that either" 

Esposito decided to change tactic."were you pushed?"

Esposito pulled his phone out and clicked onto their chat, scrolling until he came to the message he was looking for. he showed it towards Ryan. "do you remember sending this..? what this was about?"

Ryan read it and shook his head. I don't know"

"think harder Ryan... this is important"

"I`m trying!" Ryan snapped but winced when it aggravated his headache that he had managed to keep at bay until now - now it had resumed with revenge and felt like someone was banging a hammer against his forehead in a constant rhythm. "if I remembered don't you think I`d tell you?"

Esposito sighed and leaned back in the chair. "i know Ryan.. I know"

"I`m trying to remember - I spent every moment awake trying to remember but I just cant.." Ryan continued, disappointment written across his face as well as in his voice. "I`m trying Javi... heaven knows I want to able to supply you guys with something but I can`t.... I just .. can`t"

Esposito nodded as his gut wrenched at the sound of defeat in Ryan`s voice. I know I'm sorry Kev.. I`m sorry for pushing you too hard"

"I`m tired..." Ryan stated, putting an end to their conversation, his eyes drooping. "and I think my medicine is wearing off"

"want me to fetch someone?" Esposito asked, glad to actually help for once instead of sitting around feeling useless.

Ryan nodded, warily rubbing at his eyes again with his hands.

"I`ll be right back.."

by the time the doctor had supplied Ryan with another dose of medication to numb the pain and taken a new set of vitals from him, Ryan had fallen asleep. Esposito took to leaning in the doorway, studying his partner. All he wanted was for Ryan to remember - to know whether he had been pushed or not, because if indeed he had been pushed then he could go hunt for the son of a bitch who landed his partner in hospital in a lot of pain; and if Ryan had slipped and fallen down the stairs then he knew he could just punch him for scaring him like that. he knew the latter seemed unlikely though.. he just had this feeling that Ryan had been pushed- either to silence him for what he had found out or to shut him up...

"is the memory loss going to be permanent?"

the doctor treating Ryan pushed his glasses up his nose. "its too soon to tell - he had quite a bump on his head, I'm surprised he hasn't lost a whole lot more of his memory - the injury was severe" he cleared his throat. "I`m sure once Detective Ryan recovers then the part of his memory may come back"

"can`t it come back any sooner?" Esposito enquired, hating how desperate he sounded.

"i know you want to find out what happened to your friend but only time will tell if his memory comes back or not"

Esposito squeezed his hands into fists again, frustration cursing through him. the doctor must have sensed this because he glanced at the time. "its late - you should probably go home.. get some sleep"

"I`m fine thank you" he gritted his teeth. all he wanted to know was if Ryan had been pushed. if he had then the person could be still out there and might attack again - something he definitely didn't want. this whole damn case had been so frustrating! "you`ll watch him?"

the doctor nodded and a smile played across his lips. "I promise"

Esposito nodded and allowed the doctor to go. he should probably head out to his car, drive home, get something to eat and get some sleep but instead he sat on one of the hard plastic hospital chairs in the corridor and rested his head in his hands.


End file.
